that a great deal more than enough has been made of the word, when a distinct doctrine has been founded upon the use of it. It is evidently in its absolute sense alone, that it can properly be made the basis of any peculiar tenet. And when taken in its absolute sense, and pronounced, in that sense, to be, in every instance, indispensable, its absurdity becomes absolute. For, to affirm that there can be no faith but the faith of assurance- what is it but to affirm that there can be no faith but what is perfect;-that it cannot be weaker or stronger, either in different believers, or in the same believer at different times; and that it is unsusceptible either of growth or of declension! And what is this but to affirm, that the spiritual discernment or knowledge of the truth must in all be the same, and in all perfect? for to this discernment faith must of necessity be proportioned. And does such a hypothesis accord with fact? does it accord with reason? does it accord with scripture?-That the sinner, on his receiving the gospel, MAY have a full assurance, or undoubting confidence before God, of the safety of his state, on the ground of the full and free mercy which it reveals through the blood of the cross, I have already more than once admitted. But there is a wide difference between MAY and MUST. To affirm that every sinner, on his first believing apprehension of the truth, must have this full assurance, this undoubting confidence, is, I repeat, to affirm, that the discern ment and faith of all believing sinners must at the very outset be the same, and that in all it must be perfect. A large portion of the controversy seems to me to turn upon this simple but important difference between MAY and MUST. The distinction, to which I have alluded, between the assurance of faith and the assurance of hope, is in itself a sufficiently intelligible one. It is similar to one on which I have all along been proceeding,—that, namely, between the belief of the divine testimony in the word, and confidence of personal interest in the blessings of life eternal which the testimony reveals; a very obvious distinction,-the truth of God's word, and the reality of any sinner's interest in its blessings, being two things altogether independent of each other, and resting on different kinds of evidence.-The distinction has been stated thus: "There is this remarkable difference between the assurance of faith and the assurance of hope, that when men first become possessed of the former, they obtain it without their using any endeavours in search of it; for it comes to them unsent for, as it did to the Thessalonians :whereas the assurance of hope is enjoyed only by those who "give all diligence to obtain it.”*—Again: "The first was called for in a man's first profession of the faith upon his first hearing the gospel, in order to * Sandeman's Letters on Theron and Aspasio, vol. ii. p. 170. his being acknowledged for a Christian. The assurance of hope, again, is an enjoyment proposed to them that believe, and have already begun the Christian race, which they were called to follow after, and to give all diligence to obtain."* When I say that there does not appear to me any foundation for a separation of the two, my readers may possibly be startled, as if this were hardly in full agreement with my former statements. The following observations, however, will clearly show, I trust, that there is a perfect harmony; that the two are inseparable; that they must bear an undeviating proportion to each other; that they must rise and sink, wax and wane, live and die together. 1. The belief of the truth is the spring or origin of hope. The two are invariably conjoined in the word of God, as cause and effect. Thus in Heb. vi. 13-19, immediately following the exhortation to "give all diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end," the apostle says:-" For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all * Sandeman's Letters on Theron and Aspasio, vol. ii. p. 170.. strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the vail." The word and oath of God are addressed to faith; and then, from the belief of what God has declared by his word, and attested by his oath, arises the hope,-the "sure and stedfast" hope, that is the anchor of the soul," and that "enters within the vail." Again :-" Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God."* Here, in like manner, hope is inseparably associated with "faith in God," as "raising up Jesus from the dead.” It is founded in it. It arises out of it. So it is in 1 Peter i. 18-21. all the statements of Scripture. And how could it be otherwise? For so it is in the nature of things. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,-by whom also we have had access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."* "The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." It should be recollected, that faith respects the promise as well as the testimony of God. We believe the former to be faithful, as well as the latter to be true. In this respect, faith and hope are almost identified; for the faith of the promise cannot in possibility be separated from the hope of its fulfilment. Hence what the apostle says of faith in Heb. xi. 1, that it is "the confidence of things hoped for." 2. If hope thus springs from the faith of the truth, or, more correctly, from the truth believed, it follows, that in proportion to the simplicity and firmness of our faith must be the strength and liveliness of our hope. This seems a natural and almost self-evident sequence. Yet it may be worth while to illustrate it by two or three examples.-Of Abraham it is said, "Who is the father of us all (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations) before Him whom * Rom. v. 1, 2. + Rom. xv. 13. |